Former Trade Me manager joins Xero

Xero Live Limited has confirmed former Trade Me development manager Rowan Simpson will join the company as head of product strategy.

Mr Simpson will focus on Xero's future product roadmap and integration opportunities. He starts the part time role later this month.

He has also invested in Xero and holds 2% of the shares pre-IPO.

Mr Simpson has worked at Trade Me since 2000 following its acquisition of his own start-up website flathunt.co.nz. He departed last week.

"This is an excellent opportunity for me to apply what I've learnt at Trade Me to a global product," Mr Simpson said. "I'm looking forward to working with the team at Xero to further develop a great product that people love to use," he said.

Xero is an accounting package with web 2.0 flavour. The company is preparing its listing in the New Zealand Stock Exchange.